Dutch & Belgian news, links, music & literature (made) available in English

Eindhoven — A Dutch court sentenced the main perpetrator in a brutal assault, Brent L., to ten months in a young offenders institute, four of which suspended. He was found guilty of attempted manslaughter. The Crown Prosecutor had wanted the judge to sentence L. to two years, six months of which suspended.

In total eight people had been caught on CCTV as having been involved in the assault on a 22-year-old man.

Brent L. and Tom K. were judged to have been the main instigators; the judge called their actions an “explosion of violence” but took into account that they had shown remorse for their actions. K. was sentenced to six months youth detention, three of which suspended. A third suspect, Stefano B., was acquitted because the judge ruled his involvement had been limited. Fourth suspect Brett S. had been involved but also shown remorse; the judge took this into account as a mitigating circumstance and sentenced him to two months in prison for violent disorder. Two further suspects were not prosecuted as they had not been actively involved in the attack, while two others are awaiting trial in Belgium, where they reside.

According to the judge, the sentences handed out were lower than the Crown Prosecutor had asked for, because CCTV images of the assault had been shown on TV and social media. The judge found this to have been a breach of the assailants’ privacy. As a result of this, they lost their jobs, were expelled from their places of education and had received threats.

••• Disclaimer: Jo has no control over the contents of any linked sites or any changes or updates to them, nor does she accept liability for any damages incurred as a result of visiting sites linked to in this blog. This particular blog entry was based on the Dutch article as it was when accessed on 28 August 2013; any changes made by or to the source since then will not be reflected in this post. If you own the source material linked to in this blog entry and object to your work having been linked here, please send a message in Dutch or English. Please note that Jo has no press affiliation or accreditation whatsoever.